Spain attributes over 1,000 excess deaths to heat in second-hottest June ever

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https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/spain-attributes-over-1000-excess-deaths-heat-second-hottest-june-ever-2026-07-01/

By Reuters
July 1, 2026 4:21 AM EDT

MADRID, July 1 (Reuters) - Spain recorded 1,029 excess deaths last month ​attributable to heat, official data showed on Wednesday, as ‌a five-day heatwave with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) made it the second-hottest month of June on record.

• Data on the Health ​Ministry's daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed this June ​had the most deaths attributed to heat since ⁠the same month in 2015.
• Average temperatures last month were 3.2 ​degrees higher than normal, weather agency AEMET said, making it the ​second-hottest June on record after June 2025.
• At the heatwave's peak on June 23, 35.7 million people — roughly 73% of the country's population — were exposed ​to health risks due to the heat; 38% of ​them faced high risk.
• There have been 12 heatwaves in June since 1975, with ‌half ⁠of them occurring in the past decade.
• The 13 hottest months of June since records began in 1961 all occurred in the 21st century.
• This is evidence that heatwaves appear at the ​beginning of summer ​with a higher ⁠frequency than before, said AEMET spokesperson Ruben del Campo.
• Between June 1 and 30, 165 maximum ​temperature records — 145 of them monthly and 20 ​all-time — ⁠and 225 highest minimum temperature records — 180 monthly and 45 all-time — were broken at local measuring stations, AEMET said.
• The first heatwave of ⁠the ​summer was exceptional in the country's ​north "not only because of its intensity, but also because of its duration and ​persistence," the agency added.